Need
by kcrae
Summary: Casey returns to CRU early from spring break for a little downtime. CxC
1. Chapter 1

Title: Need

Author: KcRae

Words: 766

Rating: T

A/N: Casey's POV. I didn't continue it because the rating would go up but if you want to see more review and I may type up the proper end and post it to my livejournal.

The house was quiet. Ashleigh was still chasing her hotness monster with the rest of the ZBZ's in Myrtle Beach. Casey sighed deeply and snuggled her head squarely on her body pillow as she wrapped her leg around the other end. Rebecca was the only other ZBZ at Cypress Rhodes and Casey hadn't seen her come out of her room all day. She was either in there or hunkered down at the KT house with Cappie. A small surge of jealousy rushed through her at the thought of Cappie comforting the stupid girl who had said all those awful things to him. In truth Casey knew Rebecca needed Cappie and she'd only said those things because she was hurting, regardless of the fact that Cappie is clearly (at least to Casey) anything but beneath that spoiled brat Rebecca. The other Kappa Tau's knew it even if Cappie and the rest of the Greek system didn't.

This of course was all fine by Casey so long as she had some time to enjoy relaxing and being able to be Spring Break Cartwright for a few more days alone, which she fully planned on doing. Actually she'd originally planned on staying on the beach for the rest of Spring Break but once Cap and Rebecca had left and she'd found out Rusty had gone, she'd decided the next day to leave herself. She had no one else whom she really wanted to see but Ashleigh. Then there were the apparentlly true rumors about the burgeoning relationship between Evan and her Big Sis which finally helped to push her onto the first bus home. She wasn't really all there anyhow. She had been utterly engulfed in thoughts about Cappie and Evan and Rebecca and Frannie that she wasn't even having fun anymore, besides she'd finished her Spring Break list.

So instead Casey lay in her bed, wrapped up in the love affair between the indomitable Mr. Darcy and the headstrong Elizabeth Bennet. Whenever Casey's love life or just life in general was pushing her down, she would buy a pint of Cherry Garcia (frozen yogurt, not ice cream of course) and pop her copy of 'Pride and Prejudice' into the DVD player. Lately, though, she hadn't really had the time to indulge herself. So as the opening credits began to roll she pulled the lid off her favorite Ben and Jerry's creation and dug in.

"Case?" She opened her eyes. The first thing she noticed was the darkness. Her T.V. was off and she was surrounded by nothing but black. Then there was the heat. A body was pressed against the curve of her back and a hand was splayed against her stomach. She stiffened. But the smell was familiar. It was sweet and smooth and just so…

"Cap?" She questioned to the dark and she felt him snuggle against her, his soft hair brushing her exposed shoulder and his breath ghosting over her neck. She relaxed against him sleepily.

"Hey. How's my favorite president?" She smiled. His words were light but his tone was heavy. Tired. She turned over in his arms, it all felt so natural, she felt so comfortable.

"Just fine, thank you very much. How is she?" He smiled too, it was that crooked grin that said he respected her for the question but wished she'd have kept her mouth shut.

"She'll be alright." Casey felt instantly guilty. Rebecca needed him and he was here, with her.

"Cappie," She knew she sounded a little exasperated but she didn't want to hurt Rebecca even though the pledge deserved it.

"She's sleeping Case, she's gonna be okay." She shook her head as much as the space she had allowed her to.

"She needs you, you know." Cappie sighed and laid his head down heavily.

"I know." Then he looked at her so softly, with a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. He lifted his head up and propped it on his elbow, "But Case, _I_ _need_ _you_." His free hand stroked her hair from her eyes.

"Cap, this-this isn't like you. YOu shouldn't leave her." She couldn't get over his bedroom eyes, the glow in them, and the honesty. It made her stutter and sigh and forget herself in him.

"She's fine, you said it yourself, she's a big girl. Besides, needing you Casey, is very me." And then he kissed her.

It was warm and familiar and right and completely terrifyingly great. So she let him. She let him lay her down and smother her with his kisses, his love, and his need. She let him take her breath away again and again that night, without regret. She hadn't realized how badly she had needed him too, but he knew.


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Need-Part 2

Words: 1,272

Author: KcRae

A/N: This will now be a four part story. This is 'Need' from Cappie's POV.

This was wrong. Cappie had never considered himself to be a very complicated man. He was very smart, very funny and, he had always thought, incredibly charming. Casey though, Casey made him feel like a volcano. Like mount Vesuvius, all heat and energy and light. Maybe that's why only two days after he had had a beautiful Spring Break kiss with her it felt so wrong to be wrapped up with Rebecca, in the empty dark of the ZBZ house. Cappie had offered for her to stay with him at the KT house but she had adamantly refused. She said she only wanted to sleep in her very own, very expensive, sheets. He felt cold.

They had snuggled and he had kissed her and he had, he thought very convincingly, told her what she had said didn't matter. It was a lie and Cappie was never a big fan of lying to people he cared about. And he did care about her. He felt responsible for her in a sort of boyfriendly, affectionate way, but love? No, he couldn't love her and she knew it. She'd said as much, on the stage, right before that asshole punched him. She'd said she deserved better then a guy who couldn't get over his ex-girlfriend. She was right. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how desperately he attempted to love someone else, it was always Casey. That at least had been true enough.

Then he heard the heavy front door open and close downstairs. He looked to the window and saw that there was still a fair amount of light peeking in from behind Rebecca's…drapes? He wasn't sure what those sheets hanging over the windows were but they reminded him of big, burgundy, blackout curtains. He laughed.

"What?" Rebecca was facing him, her eyes had been closed before but now they were open and red-rimmed, looking in his direction.

"Nothing Becks, just thinking about some sexy alliteration." He smiled again. Sexy alliteration, like Casey Cartwright or Casey and Cappie. Becks had no idea and that was a good thing. She just smiled and snuggled close to him.

"You think everything is sexy." She murmured softly and her eyes closed. He laughed because he knew he was supposed to but it wasn't true. Anything other than Casey Cartwright had ceased to be sexy to him for about two days now. He'd gone through the same sort of thing after that night at the 'Light and Easy,' his special place.

"Hello! Anybody home!" The hair on his arm stood up and his heart beat faster. Casey. Cappie looked down to see if Rebecca had woken up but apparently she was still fast asleep. He couldn't answer because it would wake her up and maybe it was for the best.

He listened intently as she moved around the house. He listened to the smack of her flip-flops on the kitchen floor and the sound of her riffling through her bags in her room. He heard the shower run as she washed off the sand and he knew she would be using this pink and yellow spongy affair he had always liked to play with when they had been together. He heard when the T.V. in her bedroom went on and he knew the tell-tale pop of an ice cream container being opened. He heard the soft sound of music drift in and he leaned down, Rebecca's head cradled in his chest.

She moved to grab him by the shirt but he deftly slipped beneath her wondering hold. She sniffed quietly and turned over, curling in on herself. He moved through Beck's door into the hallway. He could see the flicker of light coming up from beneath his target. He opened the door as slowly as he could manage and slipped through. He made sure not to close it all the way behind him in case it clicked and she woke up. The T.V. was still on even though the movie was long over. The letters 'DVD' floated across the screen. He walked over and switched the T.V. off, then toeing off his shoes he slid into the bed.

Her hair was spread out over the purple pillow and her face was lit up by the street light outside coming in the window. Her curtains weren't heavy but gauzy and they billowed slightly with the breeze. She looked beautiful. He wrapped an arm around her, pushing his fingers beneath her shirt to press against her stomach and dipped his head down to rest between her shoulder blades. His body molded to her curves.

"Case?" She opened her eyes, blinking slowly. She groaned and seemed to inhale deeply. He had missed the softness of her hair against his face.

"Cap?" He couldn't help but feel proud. He hadn't thought about the fact that it might be a little creepy to wake up to someone you did not go to bed with but she knew it was him. He couldn't force his smile down.

"Hey. How's my favorite president?" He could see her smile over her shoulder and she stretched lazily like a cat before turning over. He noticed she was careful not to move his arms from around her as she relaxed against him.

"Just fine, thank you very much. How is she?" Her face was too serious and he knew that she would ask. He just hadn't wanted it to be so soon. He resented Rebecca a little for intruding even when she wasn't there. He couldn't help it.

"She'll be alright." He hadn't wanted to sound so calloused. He could see Casey seemed stung, she felt guilty. It made him almost feel bad but then he remembered who picked him up when he was hit. Who walked along the beach with him and talked with him and ate pie in bed with him.

"Cappie," Her tone was exasperated and nervous. She wanted him to do the right things, to be a good person. He would, he was, and he just wanted to for once do it with her instead of for her.

"She's sleeping Case, she's gonna be okay." She shook her head a little and he smiled. She sighed.

"She needs you, you know." Cappie did know. But he also knew that he was replaceable to Rebecca. He let his head fall to the pillow.

"I know." Then he looked at her, he pleaded with her to understand. Her smile was so inviting her eyes so bright and focused. "But Case, _I_ _need_ _you_." He moved a stray bit of hair that always fell into her face.

"Cap, this-this isn't like you. You shouldn't leave her." He couldn't even smile. He was so taken in. She looked so nervous and innocent. He could tell she finally understood the way she made him feel and he knew he made her feel the same way.

"She's fine, you said it yourself, she's a big girl. Besides, needing you Casey, is very me." And then he kissed her. He poured all of his love and affection and passion into that kiss.

She relented beneath him grasping and pulling at him. The feel of her warm, small hands tugging at his shirt and gripped in his hair was completely comfortable. He felt her sigh and shudder underneath his weight as he pushed himself against her. This was right.


	3. Chapter 3

Rebecca's POV

Author:KcRae

Words: 708

Rating: K

A/N: This is the last POV chapter, the final one will be a wrap up. Thanks for the reviews.

She'd known the minute he stepped in the hotel room. Well, maybe not exactly that minute but she could definitely tell when he'd lain down beside her. He'd been with Casey. She didn't know what had happened then and at the time she hadn't cared but now he was going to do it again. She listened as he crept out of her bedroom.

In South Carolina she hadn't had to beg Cappie to leave. She just said the word and he'd agreed. When they'd gotten back she'd insisted he stay with her at the ZBZ house and all he'd done is gone to pick up a couple of things. She knew the end was coming, she just wished to have a couple more days and she knew that's all she was getting. They'd lounged and he'd done all the things a boyfriend is supposed to do when his girlfriend is distraught but she could feel he wasn't in it. He's held her but only when she asked and he kissed her but only when she kissed him first and when he laid in bed with her he hadn't taken off his shoes. He was mentally preparing to leave. Technically they were still broken up but she didn't feel like bothering with technicalities.

At first she had scorned Casey. Rebecca Logan was not going to bow down and lick the princess of ZBZ's shoes just because they'd told her to. Then she'd lost respect for her because she'd stayed with Evan. Rebecca wondered if her Mother feels the same way Casey had felt after she found out about Evan and her. But eventually Casey had picked up the pieces and left Chambers, thankfully. Rebecca knew then it was only a matter of time because no matter what she did or how desperately Evan tried there was something about Casey and Cappie that stuck.

She'd pretended not to notice and she'd tried to ignore it but there it was. When Casey had gotten home earlier that day she'd pretended to be asleep but she'd felt Cappie's heart race beneath her head. She felt his body stiffen. She'd known it was almost over. Then later, when she'd woken up because Cappie was getting out of bed she'd tried to hold onto him that second longer but he'd brushed her hand aside, thinking she was still asleep, and now he was gone.

She crept down the hallway and peered in through the crack in the door. Cappie had turned off the T.V. in Casey's room and was walking around the bed, watching the blond sleep. For a second Rebecca allowed herself to hope he was going to come back but he'd stopped beside the bed and slipped his shoes off.

_He'd slipped his shoes off._

He was going to stay, in fact, Rebecca wasn't sure he'd ever left. She watched as he slid easily into bed beside Casey, putting his arms around her. She couldn't see Casey but she could hear when Casey woke up. A few whispered words, she definitely heard her own name mentioned but she guessed it wasn't enough to deter them. Casey had turned over and slipped her arms around Cappie's neck, a few more words and then they were kissing.

Rebecca was too sad to be jealous or angry. She'd known it was coming. She watched for a few more seconds but once she saw Cappie throw off his shirt she couldn't take anymore.

She shut the door quietly behind her, confident they wouldn't notice, and made her way back to her bedroom. That was it. No more Cap and Beck's.

She would miss it for a while but she knew they wouldn't have been happy, not for long. The one thing she'd said on the stage that she'd meant was that Casey would always be in it, a part of Cappie. Not because she meant to hurt Rebecca but because Cappie wouldn't have it any other way.


	4. Chapter 4

Need-Epilogue

Words: 1,006

Author: KcRae

A/N: Multiple POV. Hope you're satisfied and let me know if the format is okay, I usually don't write multiple view points in one chapter. Thanks again for reading.

_Casey_

Casey hurt. Deeply. She'd always imagined while he joked and poked fun that maybe when she left in the morning it didn't hurt him too badly, now she knew she'd been wrong. She remembered him waking up as she crept out the door, trying to be quiet. Now she was watching him get dressed, only he wasn't doing it quietly because he was sneaking away, he was doing it quietly because it hurt him too. She could tell. He'd been great, wonderful actually. A night with Cappie had always been a night enjoyed but now he had to leave her, go back to Rebecca. Casey hated the girl for it but knew the guilt would kill her if Rebecca had gone in search for Cappie and found him in Casey's room. Rebecca was still her Little Sis after all.

"Case, I-" His voice broke. Casey was reminded of the hotel lobby.

"Go Cap, its okay." Even though it wasn't. Casey tried not to be selfish.

"No, it's not. But it will be." She didn't have time to think about his remark because he kissed her on the forehead and was out of the room before she could respond.

_Cappie_

He hated to leave her there. He knew how bad it felt but he couldn't leave things with Rebecca the way they were. Besides, he'd be back. He'd always be back whether he consciously chose to be or not. He'd just follow his feet and there he'd be.

Right that moment though he needed to talk to Beck's. Sort some things out. When he went in the room was pitch, no street light could penetrate Rebecca's room the way it had Casey's. He was trying to be quiet but he heard movement and suddenly the room was flooded with light. He hid his eyes slightly with a groan.

"Hey Cap." She startled him.

"Becks, you're up?"

"I've been since you left." Oh. Cappie felt a pang of guilt tighten his chest. He hadn't wanted it to be like this. Cappie has been called a lot of things by a lot of women but cheater had never been one of them.

"Becks, I'm sorry." He really meant it. He'd been weak.

"Don't be. We're not even together anymore." He didn't think she looked angry, just sad. If anything that was worse. "Cap, we're over. We've been over. I just wanted a little more time and I got it. Thank you." She was positively lucid. Cappie didn't know what to think.

"No, don't thank me Becks. I shouldn't-I was wrong." She smiled then and tilted her head.

"For what? It's always been Cappie and Casey. I knew it the whole time. Cap, even Rusty knew." She laughed and it nearly broke him. He wanted to be with Casey but he'd been unfair to Rebecca. He'd been a jerk, he'd been like Evan.

"I'm still sorry. I didn't mean to do what I did. I didn't use you." Rebecca sighed and sat on the bed. "I didn't mean to treat you bad Becks, I was unfair to you." He meant it.

"Yeah, you were. But it's over now and…I had fun. We had fun." He smiled and sat down next to her.

"That we did. Are you really okay?" He put his arm around her as she sagged against him.

"I'll be alright. You know, I don't like her right now, but Casey's not so bad, at least I can respect her." Cappie almost fell of the bed. "I saw you with her; you really do care about her don't you?"

"I-uh, yeah." He was really too shocked to say anything else.

"Good. Then you're off the hook."

_Rebecca_

She watched him leave. They'd had their goodbyes and now he was gone. She'd known it before but seeing it happen still hurt. She'd be okay though, she was Rebecca Freaking Logan after all.

_Casey_

Casey was still lying in bed. She was watching the sunrise because she couldn't sleep, no matter how tired she was. She just kept playing in her head all the times she'd walked away from Cappie and how much it hurt the one time he'd walked away from her. Well, if she counted the lobby two times, but who was counting? Then Casey thought about Rebecca. What would she do when she saw them together tomorrow? How would she look her Little Sis in the eye? She was so lost in thought she almost didn't notice the door open. She braced herself for Rebecca but when she turned around it was Cappie standing in the first light of day. His hair was messy and his eye's had bags under them. He was smiling this soft, weak smile at her.

"Cappie?" It was all she could say. She wanted to get up and run to him but he looked a little rough around the edges. "I thought…what about Rebecca." He shrugged his shoulders.

"She was awake, the whole time. We're over. She, uh, doesn't want me to screw this up again."

"But,"

"She says 'Hi', by the way." He walked over to the bed and sat down heavily. "I mean that is, if you want, I guess I just-"

"Cap," she tugged him down to lay next to her, "I do want."

"Good." He smiled playfully but she could see the relief as his shoulders sagged. "So what would you like to do today madam president?" Casey thought about it. There were a lot of things she should do and several things she wanted to do, really though only one thing stood out.

"I think, pie?" He laughed, turning towards her and kissing her cheek.

"Yes ma'am."


End file.
